Braves Get Even With Pirates

PITTSBURGH — A matrix sign greeting the Atlanta Braves and other visitors from the airport indicated this city was a ''Tomahawk Disposal Site.'' The Braves, however, left here Thursday night without letting a marvelous pitching effort by Steve Avery, 21, go to waste, winning a 1-0 squeaker over the Pittsburgh Pirates to square the National League Championship Series at a game apiece.

The Braves return home after posting the Atlanta franchise's first victory in NLCS play, breaking a 10-game losing streak.

Avery handcuffed the Pirates, the best-hitting team in baseball, on six hits and struck out nine before being relieved by Alejandro Pena. With pulse rates climbing in the state of Georgia, Pena struck out pinch hitter Curtis Wilkerson on three pitches with Bobby Bonilla on third in the ninth to end it.

The Braves didn't give Avery a run to work with until the sixth after he had held Pittsburgh to two hits. Avery must have had an angel on his shoulder in front of a crowd of 57,533 at Three Rivers Stadium.

Little Mark Lemke hit a squirrely-looking two-hopper for a double over Pirates third baseman Steve Buechele's head, scoring David Justice for the only run. The ball bounced close to the plate, then seemed to kick high off the artificial turf, rising over Buechele's glove.

''If the ball takes a reasonable hop,'' Buechele said, ''I make the play, and we're out of the inning.''

Is some Braves fan bringing up that destiny thing again?

Lemke also contributed a fielding gem to save a run in the eighth. With two outs and Gary Redus on second, Jay Bell hit a ball past Avery.

It was headed for center field - and Redus was nearing third and surely thinking about heading home. But Lemke dived and smothered it to hold Redus at third. Avery then got Andy Van Slyke to ground out for another great escape.

The NLCS moves to Atlanta for three games beginning Saturday. One team would need to sweep to avoid sending the series back to Pittsburgh next Wednesday.

Atlanta manager Bobby Cox was tickled to be returning to Tomahawk Land at 1-1. ''I think it sets us up for our fans. We're going to get some reception,'' he said. ''There's going to be a lot of energy at that ballpark.''

After Doug Drabek shut down the Braves, 5-1, in the opener, the pressure was on Avery.

Avery was nearly unhittable. He tied an NLCS record for the most strikeouts in an inning, mowing down the side in the first. He threw so many groundouts that the Braves tied another NLCS record for fewest outfield putouts (1).

''He (Avery) was just awesome,'' Pittsburgh manager Jim Leyland said. ''It was as fine a performance as I've seen all year. He had a lot of poise, good mechanics.

''We could have played for two more hours and not scored on him.''

The Pirates left seven on base. Bonilla led off the ninth against Avery with a double off the right-field wall. But Barry Bonds - on a 3-1 pitch - lifted a weak fly ball to Belliard behind short.

That excused Avery for Pena, who was 11-for-11 in save situations since being acquired from the New York Mets. Pena threw a wild pitch to Buechele to advance Bonilla to third. Buechele then grounded out to Pena, sending up Wilkerson for the final out.

Avery did not allow a ball out of the infield until the fifth inning. Jose Lind lined a solid, two-out single to left, but loser Zane Smith grounded out to end the inning.

Bonds had the only hit before that, an infield shot off Avery's foot in the second. Avery had retired 11 consecutive batters until Lind's hit.

''I've never known Steve to be nervous,'' Cox said. ''He is as composed as anybody in the National League. That he's only 21 is an amazing story.''